Migrants Dying On The Arizona Border (24 Photos)

Arizona Border Deaths

Despite increased efforts to stem illegal immigration and an economy that makes work harder to come by, migrants are still trying to get into the USA.

This year, Arizona became known as the state with the toughest policies against illegal immigration. Some expected tougher immigration policies to deter people from trying to cross the desert into the U.S. but already this year 170 bodies have been found in Pima County, Arizona.

On July 15, seven bodies were found, among them the remains of Omar Luna Velasquez, 25. The high temperature that day was 108 degrees.

More than 66% of the bodies found this year remain unidentified. Sometimes corpses are reduced to skeletal remains; some are mummified by the sun and shriveled like raisins. Of the seven bodies found on July 15, only Luna’s could be identified.

Increased border enforcement in California moved migration routes east into some of Arizona’s most remote and inhospitable terrain. Unusually hot weather, even by Arizona standards, also may be contributing to the large number of deaths this year.

Posted on September 7, 2010 | Filed Under Life